Kid Blue

Typically weird Dennis Hopper early 1970s film. Maybe he was tripping on LSD making this off beat movie. If you are a fan of Mr. Hopper you might like this, if not, it is a curiosity to be seen once.

This very pointed satire on the end of the "old west" and the concurrent growth of capitalism is set in Dime Box, Texas at the beginning of the 20th century. Dime Box is a real town in central Texas but here it is set on the Mexican border, where the new industry in town is a factory manufacturing ashtrays with a Mexican flag and an American flag stuck into them, symbolizing hands across the border (when a buck is concerned.) One of the funny bits I remember is Dennis Hopper asking what an ashtray is for, and he is told for putting cigarette and cigar ashes in, and he replies that people smoke outdoors, why do they need something to put the ashes in?

So he is something of an innocent, even though a former outlaw who has decided to go straight, move to town, and join the 20th century. He gets many lessons in capitalism, Native American spirituality vs Christianity, modern sexuality, and, since this was made in the early 70s, the attitude of law enforcement toward young, long-haired males. I haven't seen this in over 30 years but saw it several times in theater then and laughed every time.

It has such a great cast, particularly the males, Hopper, Boyle, Oates, Ben Johnson, all as adept at comedy as drama. Sure would like to see this get a DVD release!

If you like Dennis Hopper, you like this kind of introspective crazy thing about life, so watch it :)

This is not a classical 50s or 60s Western - this is about how the Old West may well have been for real. No superstunts a'la "Matrix" her for sure, but there is some funny action!

I am only now starting to appreciate the 70s way of making odd movies, with all the less than adequately brainy, all computer tricks, and no substance material coming to our screens these days.

It's all about real people doing mundane things, at times doing stupid things, and occasionally doing even really stupid, but outright spectacular things.

Nothing is sacred, and conservatives will have to hate this piece, that leaves no legend untouched, and shows the old West at its end in its transition to modern times, in which even steam power can already be made out to be relic some day, but not quite yet. Modern times is a comin! The characters are simply everyday people, hypocritical, twisted, evil, a little nice at times, always mean in a way, denuded of social grace as well as soap and water, except when it serves the purpose of getting closer.

This is not a classical Western - this is about how the Old West may well have been for real, spitting, sex, and all.

So stuff your dreamworld, because if you want to be a honky cowboy, you may think twice after seeing this one.

Boring? Yes, there are boring stretches in this movie. But that too were the good old times. So change your pace and watch a true classic of the 70s Western genre. Did I say a classic, when I said before it isn't? Actually, this one is a classic - just a different kind.

The "Kid" has always been a recurring character in western lore. Here he gets a whole movie to himself. Hopper is excellent as the train robber trying to settle down. An unpredictable storyline starts with a very funny robbery and never goes entirely where you'd expect. (Good stuff: 7/10)

The first half of this seemed kind of slow to me and a couple of times I only watched about 10 minutes of it when it came on IFC, telling myself I'd rather watch it all the way through from the beginning.

I was glad I did. Bickner (Hopper) is a godless, but sincere former outlaw trying to live a straight life under tough conditions and a mean sheriff in a small town where the factory turned out to be his only hope for work.

Though I thought it a bit slow at first, about halfway through, I found I was into it and the ending actually made me smile.

My favorite line is easily Hopper's when he tells Warren Oates, "A man's gotta kill his own snakes.", which I found to have meaning on multiple levels.